Caste and community profile of people below the poverty line in India, as outlined in the Sachar Report

Reservation in India is the process of setting aside a certain percentage of seats (vacancies) in government institutions for members of backward and under-represented communities (defined primarily by caste and tribe). Reservation is a form of quota-based affirmative action. Reservation is governed by constitutional laws, statutory laws, and local rules and regulations. Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are the primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies under the Constitution – with the object of ensuring a "level" playing field.

The reservation system has received a mixed response from Indians since its inception. It has been praised for diminishing the gap between the upper and lower castes by allowing the latter to enjoy the further increased opportunities as the former in jobs, education and governance by allotting seats exclusively for them. It has also been criticised for discouraging a merit-based system and encouraging vote bank politics.

A common form of past discrimination in India was the practice of untouchability. Scheduled Castes (SCs) are the primary targets of the practice, which is outlawed by the Constitution of India.[1][2] An untouchable person is considered "impure or a lowly human."[3]

During the Vedic period, the varna system was used. However, it was possibly based on the profession one chose rather than based on the birth[citation needed]. Also, it was possibly not elitist during the vedic times. Implying, all castes were considered equals. The system consisted of four ranked varnas. A person's varna was defined by his or her socio-economic duties (broadly classified into four classes or Varnas). These duties were either voluntarily performed or were assigned by the local administrator—one's varna was initially not defined by one's birth into any particular family. However, over the centuries, the system has changed to caste based on the person born in the linage than by his karma or profession.[4]

The primary stated objective of the Indian reservation system is to increase the opportunities for enhanced social and educational status of the underprivileged communities and thus uplift their lifestyle to have their place in the mainstream of Indian society.[5] The reservation system exists to provide opportunities for the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribess to increase their political representation in the State Legislatures, the Executive Organ of the Union (Centre) and States, the labour force, schools, colleges, and other public institutions.[6]

The Constitution of India states in article 16(4): "Nothing in [article 16] or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes."[7] Article 46 of the Constitution states that "The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation."[8][9]

Today, out of 543 seats in India's parliament, 84 (18.42%) are reserved for SC/Dalits and 47 (8.66%)for ST/Tribes. Allocation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the Lok Sabha are made on the basis of proportion of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the State concerned to that of the total population, vide provision contained in Article 330 of the Constitution of India read with Section 3 of the R. P. Act, 1950.

In 1982, the Constitution specified 15% and 7.5% of vacancies in public sector and government-aided educational institutes as a quota reserved for the SC and ST candidates respectively for a period of five years, after which the quota system would be reviewed.[10] This period was routinely extended by the succeeding governments. The Supreme Court of India ruled that reservations could not exceed 50% (which it judged would violate equal access guaranteed by the Constitution) and put a cap on reservations.[11]

However, there are state laws that exceed this 50% limit and these are under litigation in the Supreme Court. For example, the caste-based reservation stands at 69% and the same is applicable to about 87% of the population in the State of Tamil Nadu. In 1990, Prime Minister V. P. Singh announced that 27% of government positions would be set aside for OBCs in addition to the 22.5% already set aside for the SCs and STs.[12]

Enrolment in educational institutions and job placements are reserved based on a variety of criteria. The quota system sets aside a proportion of all possible positions for members of a specific group. Those not belonging to the designated communities can compete only for the remaining positions, while members of the designated communities can compete for all positions (both reserved and open). For example, when 1 out of 10 clerical positions in railways are reserved for ex-servicemen, those who have served in the Army can compete both in the "General Category" as well as in the specific quota.

In central-government funded higher education institutions, 22.5%[13] of available seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students (7.5% for STs, 15% for SCs).[13] This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%[13] by including an additional 27% reservation for OBCs. This ratio is followed even in Parliament and all elections where a few constituencies are earmarked for those from certain communities (which will next rotate in 2026 per the Delimitation Commission).

The exact percentages vary from state to state:

In Tamil Nadu, the reservation is 18%[13] for SCs and 1% for STs, based on local demographics.

In Northeast India, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram, reservation for ST in State Govt. jobs is 80% with only 20% unreserved. In the Central Universities of NEHU(shillong) and Rajiv Gandhi University, 60% of seats are reserved for ST students.

In Andhra Pradesh, 25% of educational institutes and government jobs are reserved for OBCs, 15% for SCs, 6% for STs and 4% for Muslims.[14]

In West Bengal, 35% of educational institute seats and[15] government jobs are reserved for SC, ST, and OBC (22% SC, 6%ST,[15] 7% for[15] OBC A &B[16])in West Bengal there is no reservation on religious basis but some economically and educationally backward Muslim castes(basis surnames pertaining to different profession e.g. cobbler, weaver etc.) have been included along with their Hindu counterparts in OBC list namely OBC A and OBC B, in both lists caste from both communities are there.[17] But in higher educational institute, till now there is no reservation for the OBC community but there is reservation in regard to admission in primary,secondary[15] and higher secondary studies.[15][16]

In 1993, a constitutional amendment in India called for a random one third of village council leader, or pradhan, positions in gram panchayat to be reserved for women.[18] The village council is responsible for the provision of village infrastructure – such as public buildings, water, and roads – and for identifying government program beneficiaries. Although all decisions in the village council are made by majority, the pradhan is the only full-time member and exercises significant control over the final council decisions.[19] Recent research on the quota system has revealed that it has changed perceptions of women’s abilities, improved women’s electoral chances, and raised aspirations and educational attainment for adolescent girls.[20]

There is a long-term plan to extend this reservation to parliament and legislative assemblies. For instance, some law schools in India have a 30% reservation for females. Progressive political opinion in India is strongly in favour of providing preferential treatment to women to create a level playing field for all of its citizens.

The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 9 March 2010 by a majority vote of 186 members in favour and 1 against. As of March 2013, the Lok Sabha has not voted on the bill. Critics say gender cannot be held as a basis for reservation alone other factors should also be considered e.g. economic, social conditions of woman candidate especially when applying reservation for educated women. There also is a growing demand for women reservation in pre-existing reservations like OBC, SC/ST, Physically handicapped etc. Some feminist groups still demand that reservation for women should be at least 50% as they comprise 50% of the population.

Reservation has also been extended to religious minorities. The Tamil Nadu government has allotted 3.5% of seats each to Muslims and Christians, thereby altering the OBC reservation to 23% from 30% (since it excludes persons belonging to Other Backward Castes who are either Muslims or Christians).[21]

The Government of Andhra Pradesh introduced a law enabling 4% reservations for Muslims in 2004. This law has however not been passed and is currently being contested in the Supreme Court.[22]Kerala Public Service Commission has a quota of 12% for Muslims. Religious minority (Muslim or Christian) educational institutes also have 50% reservation for Muslim or Christian religions. The Central government has listed a number of Muslim communities as backward Muslims, making them eligible for reservation. In Maharashtra, the Government has introduced 5% Reservation for Muslims in Jobs and Education.[23]

The Government of India on 22 December 2011 announced establishment of a sub-quota of 4.5% for minorities within the existing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes. The reasoning given was that Muslim communities that have been granted OBC status are unable to compete with Hindu OBC communities.[24] It was alleged that the decision was announced as the Election Commission announced Assembly elections in five states on 24 December 2011. The government would not have been able to announce this due to the model code of conduct. On 12 January 2012, the Election Commission stayed implementation of this decision for violation of the model code of conduct.[25] Later, Justice Sachar, head of the Sachar Committee that was commissioned to prepare a report on the latest social, economic and educational condition of the Muslim community of India, criticised the government decision, saying "Such promises will not help the backward section of minorities. It is like befooling them. These people are making tall claims just to win elections". He suggested that instead of promising to give reservations, the government should focus on basic issues of improving administration and governance.[26]

On 28 May 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the sub-quota. The court said that the sub-quota has been carved out only on religious lines and not on any other intelligible basis. The court criticised the decision: "In fact, we must express our anguish at the rather casual manner in which the entire issue has been taken up by the central government."[27]

With few exceptions, all jobs under certain State governments are reserved for those who are domiciled within the jurisdiction of that government. For example, in Punjab Engineering College (Chandigarh) 85% of seats were earlier reserved for Chandigarh-domiciles—now it is 50%. There are also some seats reserved for the Jammu and Kashmir 'migrants' in every Government-aided educational institute.

Those who have served in the armed forces ('ex-serviceman' quota—because the age of superannuation in the Military Service is much shorter than that in the Civil posts; more so, certain intakes are tenure-based, e.g. the contract for Short-Service Commission is merely 8 years)

Seat reservation for Senior citizens and Physically handicapped in public (bus) transport.

Government funding allowing reservations in colleges/universities[edit]

A University Grants Commission (UGC) provides financial assistance to universities for the establishment of Special Cells for SC/STs. The cells help universities implement the reservation policy in student admission and staff recruitment processes for teaching and non-teaching jobs. They also help the SC/ST categories integrate with the university community and help remove the difficulties SC/ST individuals may have experienced. SC/ST cells have been set up in 109 universities. The UGC provides financial assistance to universities and affiliated colleges for implementation of Special Cells. It provides the universities with assistance worth 100,000 per annum # Travelling Allowances & Dearness Allowances for field work

The UGC provided financial assistance only up to the end of the Xth Plan period ending 31 March 2007. The work undertaken by the SC/ST Cells was reviewed at the end of Xth plan. The Xth plan is proposed to ensure that there is an effective implementation of the reservation policy in admissions, recruitment, allotment of staff quarters, hostels, etc. Essentially, its goal was to ensure that the SC/ST Cells were established in the universities.[6]

In India most of the scholarships or student aid is available only for OBC's,SC,ST,BC, Women, Minorities & Muslims. As per Rediff Labs, only 0.7% of scholarships or student aid in India is based on merit.check this

The Supreme Court, in its 16 November 1992 judgment in the Indra Sawhney case, ruled that reservations in promotions are unconstitutional, but allowed its continuation for 5 years as a special case.[28] In 1995, 77th amendment to the Constitution was made to insert clause (4A) to [[s:Constitution of India/Part III#Article 16 {Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment}|Article 16]] before the five-year period expired to continue with reservations for SC/STs in promotions.[29] Clause (4A) was further modified through the 85th amendment to give the benefit of consequential seniority to SC/ST candidates promoted by reservation.[30]

The 81st amendment was made to the Constitution that inserted clause (4B) in Article 16 to permit the government to treat the backlog of reserved vacancies as a separate and distinct group, to which the limit of 50 percent ceiling on reservation may not apply.[31] The 82nd amendment inserted a provison in Article 335 to enable states to give concessions to SC/ST candidates in promotion.[32]

The validity of all the above four amendments i.e. 77th, 81st, 82nd and 85th was challenged in the Supreme Court through various petitions clubbed together in M Nagaraj & Others vs. Union of India & Others, mainly on the ground that these altered the Basic Structure of the Constitution.[33]

On 19 October 2006, the Supreme Court upheld these four amendments but stipulated that the concerned state will have to show, in each case, the existence of compelling reasons which include backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency, before making provisions for reservation. The court further held that these provisions are merely enabling provisions. If a state government wishes to make provisions for reservation to SC/STs in promotion, the state has to collect quantifiable data showing backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation of that class.[33]

In 2007, Government of Uttar Pradesh introduced reservation in promotions. The policy specified reservation for SC/ST employees in the first stage of their promotion and that of the benefit of consequential seniority in successive promotions. However, this policy was challenged through a spate of petitions and subsequently Allahabad High Court on 4 January 2011 struck down the policy terming it as unconstitutional.[34]

The Allahabad High Court verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court through various petitions namely Civil Appeal No.s 2608 of 2011, 2622 of 2011 and many others. The Supreme Court on 27 April 2012, upheld the high court judgement. The bench consisting of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Dipak Misra rejected the government's argument on the ground that the it failed to furnish sufficient valid data to justify the move to promote employees on caste basis.[35][36]

The apex court reiterated the law laid down through various judgements by the Constitution benches in the M Nagaraj, Indra Sawhney and other cases wherein it was declared that reservation in promotions can be provided only if there is sufficient data and evidence to justify the need.[37]

The reservation for women cuts across all classes and communities and is a horizontal and not vertical reservation. As such the total % of reservations has to be counted at 50% only; and that is in consonance with the Supreme Court dicta that reservations in general ought not to exceed 50% of the posts/seats if the right to equal opportunity to all without discrimination guaranteed under Article 16 is to be vindicated and respected.

As of 25 June 2014,Maharashtra has 73% reservation in educational institutions and government jobs. Latest communities to be added to the reservation were Marathas (16%) and Muslims (5%). This leaves the remaining 27% to General/Open category.[38][39]

Service Category: Those who are considered Group ‘A’/Class I officers of the All India Central and State Services (Direct Recruits) or those who are considered Group 'B'/ Class II officers of The Central and State Services (Direct Recruitment) or those who are employees in the Public Sector.

Those who have parent(s) that are Class I or Class II officers, or both parents are Class I or Class II officers but one of them dies or suffers permanent incapacitation.[41] The criteria used for sons and daughters of Group A and B are the same for the employees of the Public sector.[40]

The sons and daughters of parents either or both of whom is or are in the rank of colonel and above in the army or in equivalent posts in the Navy, the Air Force, and the Paramilitary Force. But that will hold true provided that-

"the wife of an armed forces officer is herself in the armed forces (i.e., the category under consideration) the rule of exclusion will apply only when she herself has reached the rank of Colonel."

"the service ranks below Colonel of husband and wife shall not be clubbed together"

"if the wife of an officer in the armed forces is in civil employment, this will not be taken into account for applying the rule of exclusion unless she falls in the service category under item No.II in which case the criteria and conditions"[40]

Professional class and those engaged in Trade and Industry

If a person has a high paying job such as physician, lawyer, chartered accountant, income tax consultant, financial or management consultant, dental surgeon, engineer, architect, computer specialist, film artist or other film professional, author, playwright, sports person, sports professional, media professional or any other vocations of like status. If the husband holds one of the above jobs and the wife doesn't then the husband's income will be taken into consideration and if the wife holds one of the above jobs then the wife's income will be taken into consideration.The income of the family as a whole will be taken into account because the whole point of the reservation system is to raise the social status of the people that belong to the SC's, ST's and OBCs and if a family's income is high already it is considered that it raises their social status as well.[40]

Sons and daughters of those who have irrigated land area which is equal to or more than 85% of the statutory ceiling area will be excluded from reservation. They would only be under reservation if the land is exclusively unirrigated. Those with vacant buildings can use them for residential, industrial or commercial purposes, hence they are not covered under reservations.[40]

Son(s)/daughter(s) of those who earn 6 lakh (600,000) or more annually for three consecutive years are excluded from reservation.[40]

The creamy layer is only applicable in the case of Other Backward Castes and not applicable on other group like SC or ST. Though the efforts are also being made to do so. In some state the reservation within reservation has been made but creamy layer as such is applicable in OBCs only.

In August 1932, the then Prime Minister of Britain, Ramsay Macdonald gave his 'award' known as the Communal Award. According to it, separate representation was to be provided for the Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans, Dalit. The depressed classes were assigned a number of seats to be filled by election from special constituencies in which voters belonging to the depressed classes only could vote. This was planned to be an extension of divide and rule policy of the British.

The Award was highly controversial and opposed by Mahatma Gandhi, who fasted in protest against it. Communal Award was supported by many among the minority communities, most notably revolutionary Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. After lengthy negotiations, Gandhi reached an agreement with Dr. Ambedkar (Initially opposed it) to have a single Hindu electorate, with Dalits having seats reserved within it. This is called the Poona Pact. Electorates for other religions like Muslim and Sikh remained separate.

Present reservation system has a long history and has been debated before and after Indian independence from the British in 1947.

Reservations in favour of Backward Classes (BCs) were introduced long before independence in a large area, comprising the Presidency areas and the Princely states south of the Vindhyas. In 1882, Hunter Commission was appointed. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule made a demand of free and compulsory education for Smrti along with proportionate representation in government jobs.[9] In 1891, there was a demand for reservation of government jobs with an agitation (in the princely State of Travancore) against the recruitment of non-natives into public service overlooking qualified native people.[9] In 1901,reservations were introduced in Maharashtra (in the Princely State of Kolhapur) by Shahu Maharaj.[9]Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, Maharaja of Kolhapur in Maharashtra introduced reservation in favour of non-Brahmin and backward classes as early as 1902. He provided free education to everyone and opened several hostels in Kolhapur to make it easier for everyone to receive the education. He also made sure everyone got suitable employment no matter what social class they belonged. He also appealed for a class-free India and the abolition of untouchability. The notification of 1902 created 50% reservation in services for backward classes/communities in the State of Kolhapur. This is the first official instance (Government Order) providing for reservation for depressed classes in India.[44]

In 1908, reservations were introduced in favour of a number of castes and communities that had little share in the administration by the British.[9] There were many other reforms in favour of and against reservations before the Indian Independence itself.

Even after the Indian Independence there were some major changes in favour of the STs, SCs and OBCs. One of the most important occurred in 1979 when the Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward classes.[45] The commission did not have exact figures for a sub-caste, known as the Other Backward Class(OBC), and used the 1930[46] census data, further classifying 1,257 communities as backward, to estimate the OBC population at 52%.[46] In 1980 the commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them from 22% to 49.5%.[45]As of 2006[update] number of castes in Backward class list went up to 2297 which is the increase of 60% from community list prepared by Mandal commission. But it wasn't until the 1990s that the recommendations of the Mandala Commission were implemented in Government Jobs by Vishwanath Pratap Singh.[47]

The concept of untouchability was not practised uniformly throughout the country; therefore the identification of oppressed classes was difficult to carry out. Allegedly, the practice of segregation and untouchability prevailed more in the southern parts of India as opposed to in Northern India. Furthermore, certain castes or communities, considered "untouchable" in one province were not in other provinces.[48]

The public sector jobs are divided into 4 categories: Class I (or Group A), Class II (or Group B), Class III (or Group C) and Class IV (or Group D). The Class I employees take up 2.2% of the public sector workforce, the Class II employees take up 3.3% of the public sector workforce, the Class III employees take up 66.8% of the public sector workforce, and the Class IV employees take up 27.2% of the public sector workforce.[49] Below are the percentages of the SC employees in the Central government:[49]

^"Indra Sawhney Etc. vs Union of India And Others, Etc. on 16 November, 1992". IndianKanoon.org. Retrieved 22 August 2012. (4) Reservation being extreme form of protective measure or affirmative action it should be confined to minority of seats. Even though the Constitution does not lay down any specific bar but the constitutional philosophy being against proportional equality the principle of balancing equality ordains reservation, of any manner, not to exceed 50%." ,"Reservation in promotion is constitutionally impermissible as, once the advantaged and disadvantaged are made equal and are brought in one class or group then any further benefit extended for promotion on the inequality existing prior to be brought in the group would be treating equals unequally. It would not be eradicating the effects of past discrimination but perpetuating it.

^ abJustice S.H.Kapadia. "M.Nagaraj & Others vs Union of India & Others on 19 October, 2006". Retrieved 22 August 2012. We reiterate that the ceiling-limit of 50%, the concept of creamy layer and the compelling reasons, namely, backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency are all constitutional requirements without which the structure of equality of opportunity in Article 16 would collapse.", "As stated above, the impugned provision is an enabling provision. The State is not bound to make reservation for SC/ST in matter of promotions.